MORPHOLOGY

Morphology The Analysis of Word Structure

Advanced Linguistics - Group 8 [Nafiri Muhammadi - Irwan Ridwana - Nana - Mukhtaru Rijal

Samsu Bahri - Pupun Sampurna]

Introduction

The term morphology has been taken over from biology where it is used to denote the study of the forms of plants and animals.

Its etymology is Greek: morph - means shape, form, and morphology is the study of form or forms.

In biology morphology refers to the study of the form and structure of organisms, and in geology it refers to the study of the conguration and evolution of land forms.

In linguistics morphology refers to the branch of linguistics that deals with words, their internal structure, and how they are formed. (Aronoff and Fudeman, 2005. P.1-2)

Internal Structure of Words

Morphemes

The smallest unit of language that carries information about meaning or function.

builder build [meaning: construct]

-er [meaning: one who builds, function: noun]

houses house [meaning: dwelling]

-s [meaning: more than one, function: ..]

Morphemes

Free morpheme : a morpheme whose form can be a word by itself. [buy, write, etc.]

Bound morpheme : a morpheme that must be attached to another element [-s, -er, etc.]

Allomorph The variant forms of a morpheme, such as:

the morpheme used to express indefiniteness [a and an]

the plural endings / s / (as in bats ) / , z / (as in bugs ), and / iz / (as in buses ) for the plural morpheme.

Words

Words

Simple Word

[a single morpheme]

Complex Word

[two/more morphemes]

One Two Three More than three

and

boy boy-s

hunt hunt-er hunt-er-s

magnet magnet-ize de-magnet-ize de-magnet-iz-ation

caliber calibr-ate re-calibr-ate re-calibr-at-ion

Internal Structure of Complex Words

1. Root the core of the word and carries the major component of its meaning. [noun (N), verb (V), and adjective (A)]

2. Affix

a letter or sound, or group of letters or sounds, which is added to a word, and which changes the meaning or function of the word. [prefix: un-, suffix: -ment, infix: -um- in Tagalog]

3. Base the element to which an affix is added.

Root Vs. Base

A word illustrating the difference between a root and a base

In this case, black is not only the root for the entire word but also the base for -en. The unit blacken, on the other hand, is simply the base for -ed.

Internal Structure of Words

Morphological Process

Variety of operations that can modify a word's structure:

1. Affixation

2. Cliticization

3. Internal Change

4. Suppletion

5. Stress and tone placement

6. Reduplication

7. Compounding


1. Affixation the addition of an affix. e.g. re-play, govern-ment

2. Cliticization Clitics are short unstressed forms that are pronounced together with another element as if the two were a single unit.

e.g. 'm for am, 's for is, and 're for are

3. Internal Change Internal change is a process that substitutes one nonmorphemic segment for another to mark a grammatical contrast

e.g. sing (present) sang (past)

foot (singular) feet (plural)


4. Suppletion

A morphological process that replaces a morph by an entirely different morph in order to indicate a grammatical contrast.

e.g. go (present) went (past)

be (present) was/were (past)

5. Stress and tone placement

Sometimes, a base can undergo a change in the placement of stress or tone to reflect a change in its category.

e.g. Stress placement in English


6. Reduplication Duplicates all or part of the base to which it applies to mark a grammatical or semantic contrast. Full reduplication is the repetition of the entire word respectively. In contrast, partial reduplication copies only part of the word.

e.g. Full reduplication in Indonesian

orang (man) orang-orang (all sorts of men)

anak (child) anak-anak (all sorts of children)

7. Compounding The combination of lexical categories (nouns, adjectives, verbs, or prepositions) to create a larger word.

e.g. Noun + Noun streetlight

Adj. + Noun high chair

Verb + Noun washcloth

Prep. + Noun in-group

Word Formations

There are various ways to create new words:

1. Derivation

2. Compounding

3. Conversion

4. Clipping

5. Blends

6. Backformation

7. Acronyms

8. Onomatopoeia

9. Other Sources

1. Derivation Derivation forms a word with a meaning and/or category distinct from that of its base through the addition of an affix.

1. Derivation

1. Derivation Sometimes beginning students have trouble determining the category of the base to which an affix is added. In the case of worker, for instance, the base (work) is sometimes used as a verb (as in they work hard) and sometimes as a noun (as in the work is time-consuming). Which category serves as base for the suffix -er in the word worker? The solution to this problem is to consider the use of -er (in the sense of 'one who x's') with bases whose category can be unequivocally determined. In the words teacher and writer, for instance, we see this affix used with bases that are unequivocally verbs (teach and write). Moreover, we know that -er can combine with the verb sell (seller) but not the noun sale (*saler).

These facts allow us to conclude that the base with which -er combines in the word worker must be a verb rather than a noun.

1. Derivation The internal structure of words built around a bound root :

These examples illustrate an important property of English complex words: the rightmost morpheme is generally the one that determines the category of the entire word. Thus, the word unkind is an adjective because kind (the rightmost morpheme) is an adjective. In contrast, the word treatment is a noun since the rightmost element is the affix -ment, which combines with a V to give an N. In some languages the morpheme that determines the category of the entire word usually appears on the left rather than the right.

1. Derivation Complex derivations

Since derivation can apply more than once, it is possible to create multiple levels of word structure, as in the following example.

1. Derivation Two classes of derivational affixes (Advanced)

Class 1 affixes are characterized by the fact that they often trigger changes in the consonant or vowel segments of the base and may affect the assignment of stress.

Class 2 affixes tend to be phonologically neutral, having no effect on the segmental makeup of the base or on stress assignment.

2. Compounding Another common way to build words in English involves compounding, the combination of lexical categories (nouns, adjectives, verbs, or prepositions).

The final component determines the category of the entire word. Thus, greenhouse is an N because its right most component is an N, spoonfeed is a V because feed also belongs to this category, and nationwide is an A just as wide is. The morpheme that determines the category of the entire word is called the head.

2. Compounding Once formed, compounds can be combined with other lexical categories to create still larger compounds, as in the following examples.

In addition, the word formation processes responsible for derivation and compounding can interact with each other. For instance, a compound is formed by combining a simple word (debate) with the derived word abortion.

2. Compounding Types of Compounds

Compounds are used to express a wide range of semantic relationships in English.

1. Endocentric Compounds

A compound denotes a subtype of the concept denoted by its head (the rightmost component). See the table above for the example.

2. Exocentric Compounds

In a smaller number of cases, however, the meaning of the compound does not follow from the meanings of its parts in this way. Such compounds are said to be exocentric compounds.

e.g. a redhead is not a type of head; rather, it is a person with red hair

a redneck is a person and not a type of neck.

2. Compounding Pluralization in English compounds

A very striking feature of exocentric compounds shows up in English in those cases where the head of the compound has an irregular plural. Consider in this regard the following examples.

Notice that the exocentric compounds permit the plural suffix -s for words such as leaf, tooth, foot, and man even though these forms require an irregular plural when used elsewhere, including in endocentric compounds.

Other Types Word of Formation

3. Conversion

Conversion is a process that assigns an already existing word to a new syntactic category. Even though it does not add an affix, conversion is often considered to be a type of derivation because of the change in category and meaning that it brings about. (For this reason, it is sometimes called zero derivation.)


4. Clipping Clipping is a process that shortens a polysyllabic word by deleting one or more syllables. Some of the most common products of clipping are names Liz, Ron, Rob, Sue, and so on.

5. Blends Blends are created from nonmorphemic parts of two already existing items. Well known examples of blends:

brunch [breakfast and lunch], smog [smoke and fog] spam [spiced and ham] telethon [telephone and marathon] aerobicise [aerobics and exercise] chunnel [channel and tunnel] infomercial [information and commercial]

As in these examples, a blend is usually formed from the initial part of one word and the final part of a second one.


6. Backformation Backformation is a process that creates a new word by removing a real or supposed affix from another word in the language. Backformations in English include:

resurrect [resurrection]

enthuse [enthusiasm]

donate [donation]

orient or orientate [orientation]

self-destruct [self-destruction]

Sometimes, backformation involves an incorrect assumption about a word's form: for example, the word pea was derived from the singular noun pease, whose final /z/ was incorrectly interpreted as the plural suffix.


7. Acronyms Acronyms are formed by taking the initial letters of the words in a phrase or title and pronouncing them as a word.

UNICEF for United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

AIDS for acquired immune deficiency syndrome

BASIC for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

radar from radio detecting and ranging

scuba from self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

laser from light amplification by simulated emission of radiation

8. Onomatopoeia All languages have words that have been created to sound like the thing that they name. Examples of such onomatopoeic words in English include buzz, hiss, sizzle, and cuckoo.


9. Other Sources

In still other cases a word may be created from scratch. Called word manufacture or coinage, this phenomenon is especially common in cases where industry requires a new and attractive name for a product. Kodak, Dacron, Orion, and Teflon are examples of product names that are the result of word manufacture.

It is sometimes possible to create new words from names. For example, brand names sometimes become so widely used that they are accepted as generic terms (kleenex for 'facial tissue' or xerox for 'photocopy').

A related practice is exemplified by the words watt, curie, fahrenheit, and boycott, all of which were derived from the names of individuals (usually the inventors or discoverers) associated with the things to which they refer.

Inflection Virtually all languages have contrasts such as singular versus plural, and past versus present. These contrasts are often marked with the help of inflection, morphology used to indicate the grammatical subclass to which it belongs. (The

base to which an inflectional affix is added is sometimes called a stem.)

In the case of most English nouns, for instance, inflection marks the plural subclass by adding the affix -s. In the case of verbs, inflection can mark a distinction between the past and nonpast subclasses usually by adding the suffix -ed to indicate the past tense.

Inflection Because inflection applies after the word formation processes, the plural affix can be added to the output of derivation and compounding, as well as to a simple noun.

Similarly, tense affixes can be attached to the output of derivation and compounding as well as to simple verbs.

Inflection Vs. Derivation Inflection and derivation are both marked in the same way, the distinction between the two can be a subtle one and it is sometimes unclear which function a particular affix has. Three criteria are commonly used to help distinguish between inflectional and derivational affixes.

Criteria Inflection Derivation

Category change

does not change either the grammatical category or the type of meaning [e.g. book books]

change the category and/or the type of meaning [e.g. king kingdom]

Order takes place after derivation

combine with the base before an inflectional affix does

Productivity typically have relatively few exceptions

characteristically apply to restricted classes of bases

Inflection Vs. Derivation Derivational affix must be closer to the root. Inflectional affixes takes place

after derivation.

Compatibility of verb bases with inflectional -ed and derivational -ment

English Inflectional Affixes With only eight inflectional affixes (all suffixes), English is not a highly inflected language.

Inflection (Advanced) In this section, we will consider several types of grammatical information that are commonly expressed in human language with the help of inflectional affixes.

1. Number

2. Noun Class

3. Case

4. Person and Number Agreement

5. Tense

Conclusion Morphology is concerned with the structure and formation of words in human

language. Many words consist of smaller formative elements, called morphemes.

These elements can be classified in a variety of ways (free versus bound, root versus

affix, prefix versus suffix) and can be combined and modified under various conditions

to build words. Operations that can combine and modify morphemes include

affixation, cliticization, internal change, suppletion, reduplication, and compounding.

The two basic types of word formation in English are derivation and compounding.

Less common types of word formation include conversion, blending, clipping, and

backformation. Once formed, words may be inflected to mark grammatical contrasts

in number, gender, case, person, and tense.

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